Prison officers yesterday staged an unofficial picket to protest at the closure of Shanganagh Castle, an open detention centre for young offenders.
The picket outside Mountjoy Prison and St Patrick's Institution in Dublin took place from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.
Mr P.J. McEvoy of the Prison Officers Association said the picket was a protest at the decision by the Minister for Justice to close Shanganagh and remove opportunities for young offenders to be rehabilitated in an open environment.
The prison officers were also protesting at the way the Minister was treating officers generally, particularly in regard to transfers. Some were being refused transfers they had requested and others were being transferred without consultation. Other issues concerned conditions of employment.
"The unofficial picket will be reviewed. It is more than likely there will be similar actions in future," Mr McEvoy said.
He said that about 40 prison officers from Shanganagh took part in the protest.
A spokesman for the Irish Prisons Service said he understood the protest was unofficial. There had been round-the-clock negotiations between the Prisons Service and the Prison Officers Association executive to try to achieve the best possible outcome for staff at Shanganagh.
A number of transitional provisions had been put in place, he said. "We canvassed staff about which institutions they wanted to go to and we have alternative positions for staff. We have had a number of meetings and there is ongoing dialogue on a daily basis."
He said everybody regretted the closure but there were a number of reasons, among them the cost of the centre, the fact that it was not the best accommodation for young offenders and the number of young people who were absconding.